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Earthquakes Rattle Indonesia

ICTMN Staff

4/11/12

Indonesia is reeling after back-to-back earthquakes rocked the region on Wednesday. Both earthquakes brought tsunami warnings that were lifted a few hours later according to the Associated Press via CBS news.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the first earthquake registered an 8.6 magnitude and hit 270 miles from Aceh, Indonesia’s provincial capital and was followed a couple hours later by an 8.2-magnitude aftershock.

According to an earlier BBC story, there were reports of the ground shaking for up to five minutes following the first quake.

Following the 2004 tsunami, a monitoring system dedicated to the Indian Ocean was put in place under the leadership of Unesco (UN scientific agency) in 2006 according to a BBC story.

The AP reported the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii released a tsunami warning to all countries along the rim of the Indian Ocean, which was later lifted.

The Wall Street Journalreported teams from the National Disaster Response Force were on standby to perform emergency relief efforts.

According to experts the earthquakes were different than the quake in 2004 that caused the catastrophic tsunami. AP reported the experts said these earthquakes occurred horizontally, which creates a vibration in the water.

"It's a sort of tearing earthquake, and this is much less likely to cause a tsunami because it's not displacing large volumes of water," Roger Musson, a seismologist from Britain’s Royal Geological Survey said in the BBC article.

Quakes that often create tsunamis are mega thrust quakes, like the one that hit Japan last year, which pushes water vertically creating the waves.

Tremors from Wednesday’s quakes were felt in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh and India according to the BBC.

The full scope of damages is still unknown.

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